Wired868 Wired868 for smart sport news and opinion
Aspiring Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) president Colin Wharfe confirmed that he continues to serve as CEO of the Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) and employee of the Fifa-appointed Normalisation Committee on the two-island republic, even as he openly campaigns for the local governing body’s top administrative post.
On Monday 19 February, Wharfe issued a public statement confirming that he would run for the TTFA presidency and is in the process of putting together his nine-member slate.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
The local football elections will be held on Saturday 13 April while candidates have until Wednesday 28 February to confirm their slates.
However, Wharfe is yet to resign his TTPFL position. As TTPFL CEO, Wharfe draws a salary from the TTFA and is a direct employee of the Robert Hadad-led Normalisation Committee, which also serves as the electoral committee for the April elections.
(After complaints by Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA) president Osmond Downer, Fifa agreed to also hire an independent three-member team to supervise the election.)
Crucially, Wharfe’s current portfolio brings him in direct contact with the 18 TTPFL clubs that will vote at the elections. It is a significant advantage.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
In the previous constitution, the 18 Pro League and TT Super League clubs had one vote each from a total electorate of 49 delegates. However, the controversial amendments to the statutes gives clubs two votes apiece—which is as many as entire zones and twice as much as most stakeholders like the Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) and TTFRA—from a new electorate of 57 delegates.
It means Trinidad and Tobago’s top 18 clubs, a combination of semi-professional, amateur and service teams, went from having 37.8 percent of the electorate to 63.16 percent of the total vote!
The constitution change was out of sync with most major FAs across the globe and instantly raised questions as to whether a path was being cleared for Wharfe—a Normalisation Committee employee whose appointment was ratified by Fifa—to run.
(The FA of England gives its professional clubs 17.83 percent of the total votes, while Jamaica, Australia and South Africa offer 28.07, 10 and 2.68 percent of the votes respectively to their clubs.)
Photo: Nicholas Bhajan/ Wired868
Even with that significant advantage and the potential for conflict of interest, Wharfe has not relinquished his TTPFL post.
“I have no comment with respect to resignation at this time,” he told Wired868, on Thursday 21 February.
After four years under an unelected Fifa-appointed boss, Hadad, one of the leading candidates for the TTFA’s first election since 2019 is, ironically, also a Normalisation Committee employee paid by Fifa.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Wired868
And Wharfe is not saying if and when he is prepared to give that up.
Members of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) are now officially in election mode, after agreeing to constitutional amendments Read more
Trinidad and Tobago Premier Football League (TTPFL) CEO Colin Wharfe has confirmed his interest in running for the post of Read more
NLCL Community Cup co-founder Brian Jordan has resigned with immediate effect from his position as chairman of the charitable youth Read more
Forget what you think you know about Blanchisseuse. Tranquil, slow-paced, and friendly? Hah. The Moruga Secondary football team would beg Read more
Trinidad and Tobago Men’s National Under-20 Team head coach Brian Haynes announced his 21-man squad for Concacaf Under-20 Championship qualifying Read more
“[…] The relevant TTPFL match day staff work with each designated home team to ensure standards and systems are met Read more
Lasana Liburd is the managing director and chief editor at Wired868.com and a journalist with over 20 years experience at several Trinidad and Tobago and international publications including Play the Game, World Soccer, UK Guardian and the Trinidad Express.
Wharfe has no intention of moving until his ship actually comes in. With he or the VFSOTT man with their hands on the tiller, the TTFA’s fate is already sealed.
Captain, your ship is sinking, captain, these seas are rough.
Unless somebody can convince Mr Wallace to come out of retirement, it’s looking very much like it’s going to be a NOTA election…
Of course, no slates have been officially nominated at this point so no resignation is required. Upon his nomination, which we can be sure is forthcoming, Wharfe MUST resign. The last election (2019) was won by William Wallace, who resigned from the SSFL Presidency to run, as his 1st Vice President, Susan Warrick, also resigned from the WOLF (women’s league) Presidency to run.
The new TTFA Constitution has been arranged by FIFA to facilitate the FIFA-financed TTPL clubs’ domination and control of the Association. Wharfe is a shoo in to win the election because beggars can’t be choosers and the TTPL clubs will do as required. Trini is now FIFA occupied territory. And occupiers do as they please.
William Wallace resigned after he was elected ttfa president which was wrong